28 22 Jan - 4 Feb 2020
introducesa numberofnewmodules,
andimprovesexistingones.The
programis nowmuchbetterat
removingnoisefromimages,too.
Darktableisn’treallyaimedatcasual
snappersbut,if youtakea lotofphotos
andwanttomakesuretheylooktheir
absolutebest,wewoulddefinitely
recommendtheprogram.Theonline
manualwillhelpyoumakesenseof it all
although,atthetimeofwriting,this
hadn’tyetbeenupdatedforversion 3.Darktable isa photoeditorandmanager
that’s similartoAdobeLightroombut
with one majordifference– it’sopen-
source andentirelyfree.It offersRAW
processing,non-destructiveediting
throughout(soyoucanmakelotsof
changes toa photowithoutoverwriting
the original),professionalcolour-
managementfeatures,a powerful
export systemanda wealthofhighly
configurableeditingtools.Youcan
search for imagesbytag,starrating,
colour labelsandmore,andDarktable
also supports‘tetheredshooting’for
some camerabrands,soyoucansee
the shot onyourcomputerbeforeyou
press the buttontotakeit.
IMAGE EDITOR
Darktable 3
http://www.darktable.org
Min requirements:Windows7/8+/10,
macOS or Linux
File size: 69MB
1
TogetstartedwithDarktable,you
firstneedtoaddsomephotos.
ExpandtheImportoptionontheleft(^1) andaddindividualimagesor
folders,^2 orscanforconnected
devices,^3 suchasa USBdrivethat
containsyourimages.Thumbnailsof
yourphotoswillappearin themain
menu,^4 readyforediting.
2
Double-clickanyimagetoopenit.
A histogramwindowappearstop
right.^1 Clickanddragtheslidersto
changethephoto’sexposureandblack
point.Belowthis,you’llseebasictools
thatletyouplayaroundwiththe
exposure,^2 cropandrotatetheimage,
(^3) andalterthewhitebalance. (^4) All
changesaremadeinstantly.^5
3
Theoptionsontheleft-handside
oftheinterfaceletyoutakea
snapshot,^1 viewthehistoryofyour
changes(andstepbackthrough
them),^2 manageduplicates,^3
openthecolourpicker^4 andview
informationaboutyourimage.^5
Youcanselectanyotherphotosfrom
thefilmstripatthebottom.^6
MINIWORKSHOP | Improve your digital photos with Darktable
The updated version of the software
introduces a new, customisable
interface (there are three new themes to
choose from) and a ‘culling’ mode on
the ‘lighttable’, which displays a fixed
number of consecutive images and
allows you to pan and zoom them, and
compare shots. The lighttable view has
been rewritten so it’s faster and easier
to use on 4K+ screens, and there’s a new
timeline view that lets you select a date
range for images. Darktable 3 also
Best Free Software
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